Coors Banquet beer was black market back in the day, only distributed within some 13 western U.S. states. Per firstwefeast.com, in the 1970’s:
Coors claimed that not only could they not make enough beer, but that their unpasteurized brew demanded being distributed exclusively via refrigerated trucks, lest it “spoil.” Thus, a mystique was built, and soon east coast folks were smuggling cases upon cases of the beer back home after a visit to the Rockies. In 1977, Coors even took out an ad in the Washington Post saying “Please don’t buy our beer,” insisting any in the area was clearly black market, mishandled, and prone to becoming “watery” (you can laugh now). This insane thirst for Coors hit its apex with the release of Smokey and the Bandit, the Burt Reynolds action-comedy about a legendary trucker willing to risk life, limb, and the law to illegally smuggle crates of Coors back to Georgia.
This ’79 ad for said beer plays like an ad for America itself. Coors Banquet is “born where eagles speak, and the sunrise slides from peak to peak.” Clearly, it’s “no downstream beer.”
I Don't Get It 
One of my best friends from college used to say this was the best beer he ever drank. He would occasionally make a trip to Colorado and bring back a few cases. Thanks for bringing back that memory.
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And did you try it to confirm? It sounds like the propaganda worked.
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And the ‘watery’ problem persists to this day.
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Indeed. Drink Coors and pee Bud Light.
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Truth.
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I tried it, but after serving a year in Germany while in the army, I couldn’t figure out what the fuss was about.
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Oh, I bet it was night and day between legit beer and Coors.
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You got it.
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Story time. Around about 1975 I was in Guam and one of my friends, originally from Colorado, had gone home for a brief visit. Before he left, he promised he would bring back a case of Coors to the thirsty gang on Guam. He was good to his word. About 8 of us met him at the airport at 4am and shepherded him home where we put the Banquet Beer on ice and then sat there for a couple hours trading sass and lies as the beverage cooled. We then promptly polished off the case and gave him the figurative Key to the City for all of Guam. I still like Coors, not s much as a beer as a means of simple hydration on really hot days when you’re working outside and can’t have a real beer. The AJF considers it the best beer in the universe but she is a real lightweight. I took her to the brewery in Golden Colorado and she was in lightweight beer heaven sampling the fresh cold stuff right from the vats.
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Brilliant. That is a great story. I don’t drink domestic beers but I can see how you would use it as hydration since it would take at least three or four to give a normal person a buzz. The AJF saves you money!
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That is a hilarious commercial. Before I moved west I had tried a few “black market” Coors Wasn’t real impressed so I tried some more when I was in the west. Better marketing than brewing.
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I like it, but that whole late 70’s promotion kinda backfired, I think.
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